With John Wall set to return and Bradley Beal still under contract for at least two more years, the Wizards have an intriguing roster heading into the 2020/21 season. Fred Katz and Danny Leroux of The Athletic examine the rest of Washington’s squad.
Given their desire to re-sign unrestricted free agent power forward Davis Bertans, the Wizards may only have the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions – along with their current draft picks – available to them to build out their roster. Upgrading the defense, particularly through the center position, is touted as a key arena for improvement.
There’s more out of DC:
- In a conversation with J.J. Redick and Tommy Alter for their podcast Old Man And The Three, as captured in an NBA Central tweet, Bradley Beal elaborated on why he opted for a two-year, nearly $72MM contract extension with the Wizards last season. “You still want to be able to protect yourself and kinda be selfish,” Beal said. “How can I create some type of flexibility for myself if we aren’t winning, if I do choose to get out?”
- Chase Hughes, Chris Miller, and Tyler Byrum of NBC Sports Washington discussed big men Onyeka Okongwu and James Wiseman as potential Wizards draft targets in the event that the team trades up from the No. 9 pick.
- As we previously relayed, team GM Tommy Sheppard stressed an interest in applying load management principles to team play more going forward.
AD and bradley beal are both 27 years of age.Although they are both had histories of injuries, i think pairing them both plus lebron james’last 2 or 3 good years makes sense for the lakers and especially bradley beal. I just dont know how they are going to make that work!
You’re spot on from almost every perspective except Washington’s. The Lakers have almost nothing left to offer of value. I’d also argue the Wizards probably should play it out with Beal & Wall in ’21, see how it goes. I feel like if they could sign a guy like Boogie and make a solid draft pick that they’d be a playoff team.
Lakers fans – seriously you need to stop this talk. You don’t have anything the Wizards want. You can’t get Beal. Kuzma no. Danny Green no. A late first round pick no.
You are responding to one person, not all Lakers fans.
Yeah I know, all teams have fans like it when most of their fans are more realistic thinkers. But I seem to see it so much more from Lakers and Warriors fans these days
And Celtic fans..
Difference is Lakers traded away all their assets to get AD. GSW still have draft picks to trade. Beal will not be traded because having 1 year left on his deal whoever trades all their assets for him will need a lot of cap space for a maxed out contract.
Piechuck, You seem mad, why is that?
^^^ It’s the umadbro guy.
I’ll tell how you upgrade your D thru C position. Trade Beal to Minny. Johnson, Culver, Hermangomez plus #1 pick. Is a good start. Probably a future #1. Wizards would have #1 and #9 picks. Wiseman and Vassell plus Culver, Hernangomez, Rui, Bertans, And their young players. Wall can lead a young crew and get healthy. As he shows he’ll be more trade friendly. Washington can maximize all young talent. Better than fighting for8 seed next 3 yrs.
I like this idea, Beal would fit great in Minnesota and the wizards would actually have a squad. I like wiseman edwards okorro deni for the wizards in that scenario
I like this idea, Beal would fit great in Minnesota and the wizards would actually have a squad. I like wiseman edwards okorro deni for the wizards in that scenario
Beal seems like a lock to get traded this year, assuming the Wizards aren’t looking like a solid playoff team by mid-season.
So long as Beal is potentially available, I think a lot of teams will hold off on making big deals. He’s a difference maker that could start a whole chain of events if traded.
Sign and trade Bertans and the 9th pick for the 2nd pick. (Using the trade exception, Max deal worth 18mil)
Wizards them draft James Wiseman to play with John Wall, Bradley Beal and Rui Hachimura. Which would be a great fit. Wiseman will be only 20, he’s got great size, elite athleticism, solid defence, huge potential and is an NBA ready dude. Wiseman would be playing with a great scorer in Beal, and a great passer and playmaker in Wall. He would have a great opportunity to get points, get lots of boards and blocks, and his two man pick game with Wall would be interesting.
After this move from the Wizards they should draft a back up future PG with their second round pick. Someone like Nick Mannion, Immanuel Quickly or Tre Jones. Then go into free agency and get Glen Robinson.
1. Wall. Smith. Mannion/Quickly/Jones
2. Beal. J. Robinson
3. G. Robinson. Brown Jr
4. Hachimura. Wagner
5. Wiseman. Bryant
Warriors can’t pull that off salary wise.
Warriors can take on Bertans using the exception they have if his contract is for less than 18 mil which it should be
That is a darn good idea. I never thought about them using the exception for a sign and trade. Although it might not work since they might not want to be hard capped two years in a row.
assuming certain people are off the board, including Okongwu, Washington should draft Tyler Maxey. They can add a low cost defensive big in FA, and grab a low cost defensive wing type of player, and hope to see the jump from Troy Brown.
Tyrese, not Tyler.
damn the autocorrect must have done that lol.
If Beal gets traded, would have to be on draft night. I know there are thoughts of midseason dumping if they are out of contention, but they aren’t winning a playoff series as currently constructed. Dealing Beal is the only step they have to move toward contention. They don’t have the surrounding pieces and Walls contract is an albatross. They need to retool with younger cost controlled pieces.
But some of the m’fckrs here think they can… smh
You can’t say they’re not winning a playoff series until we see Wall play. If Wall comes back a shell of his former self then yes, you’d be correct. If Wall returns to even just 80% of his pre-injury form though this team could compete. They have before. They just need a big to be a dependable 3rd piece to make the playoffs, and to draft properly for depth to get lucky enough to maybe make a run.
Been 4 years since they won a playoff series. They’ve made it out of the 1st round 3x in 10 years. That was with 100% healthy Wall and Beal.
Luck is if multiple superstars get injured next year and miss the playoffs. They’ll be lucky to be a 6th 7th or 8th seed. So that means they’ll face Bucks, Raptors, Heat, Celtics/Sixers. They ain’t making it out of the 1st round if they make the playoffs. They don’t have the cap space to get a 3rd piece. And a S&T would have to involve Bryant and Ish and picks to make the money work for any worthwhile 3rd piece. There’s pie-in-the-sky fandom Hope’s and dreams and then theres reality. And reality is they’ll be watching the playoffs take place from their living room.
What about trading #9, 37 picks and Troy Brown Jr. to Cavs for pick #5 so they can draft Okongwu?
I don’t think Okongwu is the missing piece in a great Wizards team. If they had extra picks like Philyl, I could see that working. But if the Wizards exit the draft with only Okongwu, it would be a huge mistake.
Beal is under contract for 3 more seasons (player option in the final year). He signed an extension with Washington before the start of the 19/20 season.